Houston Museum of Natural Science Malacology Collection (HMNS)
The Houston Museum of Natural Science Malacology collection has grown over the past few years and is now the largest of the Museum’s Collections. HMNS is the home of the extensive and irreplaceable collection known as the Northwest Gulf of Mexico Survey of Marine Mollusks and the world-renowned Guido Poppé Collection of Philippine Shells. Other notable historic collections include the Thomas E. Pulley collection, the Helmer Odé collection, and the Connie Boone collection. This, as well as many other holdings of specimens, are being used by various researchers to further our understanding of the importance of these animals and their relevance to the environment.
Current holdings for the HMNS Malacology collection are approximately 1.5 million dry specimens that include holotype, paratype, and hypotype specimens. With a focus on marine specimens of the United States and the Indo Pacific, the collection has been able to grow in a direction that allows both display of specimens and to be a resource for researchers, educators, and students.
- 11,960 specimen records
- 5,542 (46%) georeferenced
- 9,266 (77%) identified to species
- 138 families
- 403 genera
- 742 species
- 765 total taxa (including subsp. and var.)
